Dr. Thomas N. Pesola (1949-2009)

You can view the highlights from Tom's full-length biography via the YouTube videos below. The entire highlights video, broken into two parts for easier web sharing, was shown at the Dr. Thomas N. Pesola Memorial Scholarship fundraising dinner on August 22, 2009. For information on purchasing a copy of this highlight video or the full, 2-hour length version, please e-mail pesolascholarship@gmail.com.

Highlights from Thomas Pesola: His Life & Legacy (Part 1)

Highlights from Thomas Pesola: His Life & Legacy (Part 2)

Tom's childhood 'home'

Thomas Nelson Pesola was not supposed to be born. His parents, Jeannette (Nan) Wiinikka Pesola and Wiljo (Bill) Sakri Pesola, were told they would not be able to have children. Therefore, when “the miracle baby” arrived in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, on August 18, 1949, it marked the first of many instances in which Tom would pleasantly surprise people by overcoming the odds stacked against him. Tommy, as he was called when he was younger, grew up in Ashby, Massachusetts. His paternal grandparents, Sakri and Elina Pesola, bequeathed a 40-acre plot of land to Bill and Nan on which they planned to build a house. Tommy’s father built a garage as a temporary form of shelter for the family to live in while he built their dream house. Unfortunately, Bill’s alcoholism so debilitated him that he never got around to constructing the house, and it was the garage that Tommy called home.

Bill and Nan, Tom's parents

Despite their modest abode, the Pesolas were a proud family with “sisu” (pronounced see’-soo), a Finnish characteristic that roughly translates as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. The Wiinikkas, Tommy’s maternal grandparents, and the Pesolas carried this trait with them when they emigrated from Finland to the United States in the early 1900s, determined to succeed in their new country. Both families valued education highly and believed it was an integral ingredient to success; in fact, in 1909, before they married, both Hilja and Ilmari Wiinikka donated $10 each (equivalent to about $237 in today’s money) to support Suomi College, a higher education institution in Michigan started by Finnish immigrants (this school is now known as Finlandia University). The belief in the value of education was passed down to Nan and Bill, both of whom graduated high school. Shortly after high school, Bill enlisted in the army and went to fight in World War II, and Nan took a job working in a factory.

Tom with his dog, Betsy

After Tommy arrived, the Pesolas did the best they could to care for him. Although Bill’s alcoholism limited him in many ways, Nan was always around to take care of her son, and she sacrificed so that he could have decent clothes and meals. However, growing up without a bathroom (just an outhouse), no hot water until he was 12, and no telephone until he was 14 led Tommy to live in a world filled with shame. He would often go into the woods with his dog, Betsy, just to get away from the house and think about how he would extricate himself from Ashby. Tommy’s father always told him that no one could belittle a man with an education, so it was clear to Tommy early on that a college education would be his way out. Tommy excelled in school and had excellent teachers who led him down the right path. He was involved in many activities, particularly athletics. He played on his high school’s basketball team for three years and served as team captain, and he pitched for Ashby High’s baseball team for four years. In addition, he was the president of his high school’s National Honor Society, and he served as class treasurer for three years. He also served as an editor for the yearbook in which his class named him “most athletic,” “most ambitious,” and “most likely to succeed.”

Tom's high school graduation picture

However, Tommy’s high school experience was not all smooth-sailing. He suffered a major setback in 1965 during his sophomore year when he was diagnosed with Type I diabetes on April Fool’s Day. His family ensured he received proper medical care, and Tommy spent weeks at a time at the Joslin Clinic in Boston learning how to manage his diabetes, which gave him the foundation he needed to take good care of himself and avoid many of the ailments that plague diabetics. He looked forward to his visits to Joslin because being in Boston allowed him to attend some Red Sox games in person instead of just listening to them on the radio. A Boston sports fan with an uncanny ability to recall even the most obscure sports trivia, he treasured these visits to Fenway Park. His world turned upside down again during the spring of his senior year when he learned his girlfriend was pregnant. Together they made the decision to put the baby up for adoption so that they could pursue their college educations and the child could have a better life than what they could provide. Despite these diversions from his path, when Tommy graduated in 1967, he did so as the valedictorian of his class on his way to Northeastern University. Having diabetes benefitted Tom in some respect because it sparked his interest in the health care profession and qualified him, along with his academics and financial need, for a scholarship from the Massachusetts Rehab Commission, which helps fund college educations for those with medical disabilities. With this funding, Tom was able to graduate from Northeastern in 1972 with a B.S. in pharmacy.

With his parents at his GU graduation

Eventually he decided that he did not want to be on the retail side of health care and that he would rather sell services than products. However, as a diabetic, he didn’t think he could handle the rigorous training, internships, and residencies involved with becoming a medical doctor. Tom wanted a more structured life to accommodate his needs, so he pursued dentistry. After he and his college sweetheart Joni married in the summer of 1972, they packed up and headed to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Once again, Tom’s health status and academics helped him receive a scholarship for a portion of his dental school career, and he worked as a pharmacist to afford the rest of the tuition. He graduated with his D.D.S. in 1976, in the top 15 out of his class of 135. Tom and Joni soon moved back to Massachusetts, and Tom worked in a dental practice in West Peabody. Shortly after, daughter Kirstin was born, followed by Kara five years later. Tom enjoyed his involvement in their activities, including serving as a Future Problem Solving coach for the Danvers middle school team Kirstin competed with and coaching Kara’s team with the Danvers Girls Softball league.

Working on some teeth molds in his early career

Over the years, Tom moved his dental practice to Peabody and then to Danvers. He had a large base of patients who frequently complimented him on his sense of humor and soft touch. His patients benefited from another unexpected perk of Tom’s diabetes; years of giving himself insulin injections resulted in a knack for administering painless Novacaine shots. However, Tom did not escape unscathed from growing up in an alcoholic home, and in 1994, at the height of his career in Danvers, the sports gambling addiction he developed over the years took its toll on his career, forcing him to leave his practice. Tom reevaluated his life and his priorities. He converted to Catholicism in 1986, but the events of 1994 renewed his faith. He said in an e-mail to his daughter, “I turned an eye and ear toward God during my time of living dysfunctionally. Since 1994, my life has been peaceful and rewarding as I came to realize my way was not His way. I realize this may sound trite and ridiculous to some, but the truth of the matter is ever since I have paid attention to His way rather than my way life improved and my enjoyment of the little things has gone off the charts.”

Tom in his Revere office

With God and his family on his side, Tom purchased a dental practice in Revere and started anew. He felt he had been given another chance to live his life properly, to make healthy choices for himself and his family, and to be a person people could look to with respect. He worked daily to earn that respect and maintained that people with the title “Dr.” in front of their names should never feel entitled to it. The later years of his career were the most professionally rewarding. Tom held the prestigious position of being the Massachusetts Dental Society’s North Metropolitan District Representative for the People’s Committee, and he continually kept up to date with the progressive state of the art trends and technology by taking many continuing education classes. In the last years of his life, he integrated a Cerec machine into his practice and delighted in showing patients the machine’s ability to make perfect crowns for them in one visit. He worked in his Revere practice until his death.

The Pesola family

His greatest joy, though, was his family. Tom believed God gave him the gift of marriage and children, and he appreciated and cherished those gifts. He and Joni shared 36 years of marriage, and they enjoyed an active social life, frequently attending dinner dances and traveling with friends. Tom took pride in his daughters’ accomplishments and enjoyed seeing the adults they became. Tom’s family grew to include his son from high school, Victor, with whom he reconnected 25 years after his birth; Brendan, Kirstin’s husband whom he considered a son; and Scott, Kara’s longtime boyfriend whom she married a year and a half after Tom's death. As much as he loved the title “Dad,” Tom adored the title “Poppy,” the name by which his grandchildren, Avery and Owen, referred to him. Kirstin and her family lived two short miles away, so Tom was a regular fixture in their house, frequently stopping by to see the grandkids and hear what funny things they had to say that day. Sadly, those visits stopped with his sudden cardiac arrest on February 11, 2009. Tom was 59. With this scholarship in his name, we hope to honor Dr. Pesola's ability to overcome adversity and his appreciation for education.

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